Summer Residential Governor's Schools

Overview

Summer Residential Governor’s Schools provide high school juniors and seniors with intensive educational experiences in visual and performing arts; humanities; medicine and health sciences; mathematics, science, and technology; or through mentorships in marine science, or engineering.

Each Summer Residential Governor’s School focuses on one special area of interest. Students live on a college or university campus for up to four weeks each summer. During this time, students are involved in classroom and laboratory work, field studies, research, individual and group projects and performances, and seminars with noted scholars, visiting artists, and other professionals. In the three mentorships, students are selected to work side-by-side with research scientists, physicians, and a variety of other professionals. A director and a student-life staff provide supervision of students 24 hours a day, throughout the program.

2025-2026 Summer Residential Governor’s School Programs

VDOE has partnered with Blue Ridge PBS to provide video profiles of each SRGS program.  All videos can be found on the PBS Appalachia YouTube webpage.

Applications are provided in PDF format. All sections must be fully completed. Students can enter information directly into the text fields; text size will adjust automatically. It is strongly recommended that students save a copy of their completed application for their records.

Student Nominations

Nominations for Summer Residential Governor’s School programs may be made by teachers, school counselors, peers, or by the students themselves. A school or division selection committee chooses the nominees from each school or division and forwards the nominees to a state committee. Consideration is given to students’ academic records, test scores, extra-curricular activities, honors, and awards, creativity, original essays, and teacher recommendations. Students applying for the Visual and Performing Arts Summer Residential Governor’s School participate in a statewide adjudication where they audition or present portfolios for review before a pair of professionals in the specific arts field. Because of the limited number of residential placements available, not all students who are nominated by their schools can be accepted for participation.

Resources for Administrators

• 2025-2026 Administrator’s Handbook
• Visual and Performing Arts Adjudication Form

Resources for Students and Families

• 2025-2026 Student Handbook
• Academic Recommendation Form A
• Academic Recommendation Form B
• Visual and Performing Arts Recommendation Form A
• Visual and Performing Arts Recommendation Form B

Application Scoring Forms

• Academic Application Scoring Form
• Visual and Performing Arts Application Scoring Form

How Schools are Selected

Based on a request for proposals (RFP) offered by VDOE, universities and colleges throughout the commonwealth develop proposals to host these programs. A committee of in-state and out-of-state educators, members of the Virginia Advisory Committee for Advanced Learners (VACAL), and others who are knowledgeable in the area of specialization evaluate these proposals. Evaluation expectations are outlined in the RFP. The selected institution receives a one-year contract that may be renewed for four more years, based on successful evaluations.

Program Evaluation

VDOE evaluates the Summer Residential Governor’s Schools as funding permits. Rubrics similar to those developed by the Academic-Year Governor’s School directors are used to evaluate the Summer Residential programs. Visiting teams include specialists or university faculty with expertise in the content or focus area, Academic-Year Governor's Schools directors and teachers, local gifted education coordinators, and other professionals directly involved in the specific fields.